Yeonhwasa Temple연화사(서울)

About

Yeonhwasa Temple sits at the foot of Cheonjangsan Mountain in Hoegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, and is a branch temple directly under the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Hoegi-dong, in the middle of eastern Seoul, is said to take its name from Hoereung, the tomb of Deposed Queen Yun, the birth mother of King Yeonsangun, and on that site now stands a small temple built as her memorial temple. It was named Yeonhwasa ("lotus temple") to express the idea that the true nature of all living beings is like a pure lotus blooming out of the mud, and it was later also called Myoryeon. Both names symbolize the purity of the lotus; they seem to have been chosen for the lotus's meaning of rebirth, as the temple was a place where Yeonsangun prayed for the happiness of his mother in the afterlife and for the repose of her soul, which had met an untimely death. Hoereung has since been moved to Seosamneung, and Kyunghee Girls' Middle School and High School were built on its site, so its former appearance can no longer be seen, but the small temple below the site carries on its legacy. Today it is no longer a typical temple surrounded by dense forest but has become a city temple. Still, it holds many Buddhist paintings commissioned by court ladies, as it served as the memorial temple not only for Deposed Queen Yun but also for Queen Seonui, and traces of its role as a royal memorial temple can still be found.